Opus Dei

The mission of the prelature of Opus Dei is the same salvific mission as that of the whole Church, carried out in conformity with a specific charism of sanctification and apostolate in professional work and in the context of ordinary life.

It is the Church itself, represented by the Pope, that makes the decision to create a personal prelature, after consulting the Bishops’ Conferences, in order to serve souls more effectively. Naturally this decision requires the existence of the elements that constitute a personal prelature: a community of faithful, presided over by a prelate, with a clergy that assists him in his pastoral task, and a specific ecclesial purpose.

Like any prelature, the government of Opus Dei is the responsibility of its prelate and his vicars, who are assisted by councils made up of other faithful, many of them lay persons, both men and women. The lay faithful also play a decisive role in the organizational tasks and in the formational activity of Opus Dei.

Although similar personal hierarchical structures already existed (such as military vicariates), the juridical figure of the personal prelature is the result of an apostolic desire of the Second Vatican Council that later took form in the present Code of Canon Law. The first to be erected was the prelature of Opus Dei, in the Apostolic Constitution Ut sit of John Paul II, on November 28, 1982.

Incorporation in the prelature of Opus Dei is essentially united to the personal vocation of that individual.

The prelature of Opus Dei is financed in the same way as the dioceses and other future prelatures, that is, above all by the contributions of its own faithful and of other people who provide financial assistance for its mission.

The new deacons come from 15 countries and were ordained today by the Prelate in the Basílica of San Eugenio in Rome. We present some excerpts from Bishop Javier Echevarría's homily along with the names of the newly ordained deacons.

“In an environment that is not very Christian, how can we stand up for what we believe in?” This question, still relevant today, was put to St. Josemaría in 1972. Here is his answer (Weekly Video: 0’44”).

""Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." Citing words of St. Jerome, the Holy Father advised all the faithful to read a passage from the Bible each day.

My name is Hector. I’m stationed on a frigate in the Spanish Navy, and am a member of Opus Dei. When I found out that we would be conducting maneuvers in the Red Sea with a four-day stopover in one of the poorest countries in the world, a group of us officers decided to try to do what we could to help out.